Betty Ford in March 2010 wrote that she was proud of and pleased with her daughter Susan Ford Bales' leadership as board chairwoman of the Betty Ford Center, telling board members that “statements and requests made by Susan should be considered as if made personally by me.”

The Desert Sun confirmed the letter’s authenticity in 2010, and it wasn’t questioned when it was published in December. The center’s current executives now allege someone else was behind the letter, and they believe it didn’t actually reflect Ford’s wishes.

Betty Ford on April 12, 2010 told her daughter, Susan Ford Bales, to remove center CEO John Schwarzlose as a eulogist in her funeral plans. The direction came just one month before Bales was removed as chairwoman.

An April 21, 2010 letter from Betty Ford to recently ousted board member Dennie Jagger thanks Jagger for her years of service, calls a majority of the board “misguided” and expresses concerns about the future of the Betty Ford Center.

The Betty Ford Center sent a fundraising letter to friends and supporters on July 20, less than a week after Mrs. Ford was buried in Grand Rapids, Mich. Some alumni were irked by the letter as it was signed by President John Boop, who did not actually attend the funeral service.